Gardening, particularly allotment gardening,

is important for the prevention of Osteoporosis, as it involves pulling and tugging on the bones by the muscles. These are weight-bearing exercises which stimulate bone making cells and strengthen the bones.
Swimming is not helpful because the buoyancy of the water supports the weight.
Carrying cans or containers of water out from the kitchen is better than using a hosepipe. This is a weight bearing exercise. Lift bags of Fertiliser, manure, it all helps.
Everyone over 65 years of age should drink one pint of milk every day for added Calcium.
Everyone should get 30 minutes vigorous exercise 5 days a week. Fast walking is ideal.
Muscle strengthening exercises are important for muscles around bones to improve tone and balance. These can be obtained from Physiotherapy Dept. at hospitals.
These instructions should be helpful in retaining the use of allotment land by anyone under threat of closure.
Seems being an allotment gardener for 32 years has saved me from this disease, but I didnt drink enough milk so am Calcium deficient and break bones easily. Source- Patient.co.uk (sent to me by my GP)

Comments

Too right Paul, lifting anything of weight should be approached with caution. I think the mantra on the whole should be 'just keep going, don't give in'...well it's working for me, so far..touch wood :)!

I think it's a case of being careful with lifting. Whilst some lifting and carrying can be good exercise, it's very easy to overdo it in the garden, with compost and heavy pots etc. You can do damage if you try to lift things you shouldn't!

LOL....we are fools to ourselves but so enjoyable at the time, its like my knee problem, I'm more concerned about my garden than anything else which is so stupid of me cos it won't really suffer and I do know that.....

I think we all do things in the garden we should'nt but when we are on a roll about moving pots etc we forget everything because we are enjoying ourself's the times I have have been aching the next day and dare not mention why to OH lol

The medical instruction I have to learn is 'Weight bearing exercises help stimulate bone making cells.'
Plan to use a bag of grit, as that seems about the right
weight for me.
Then formulate exercises on a twice daily routine indoors.
The lifting described in comments above is alright if done in the right way, by bending the knees holding the article firmly, then straightening them without straining the back. Its remembering to do it !
Its the calcium defect that concerns me, because we are never told that if over 65 we should drink a pint of milk a day. If I had done this I think my bones would have been stronger to resist the Osteoporosis - sometimes called Brittle Bone Disease, which used to be preventable.
Seems now it is, only nobody bothers to tell us.

Have now found the correct weight bearing exercises on the Internet under National Osteoporisis Foundation heading. Others recommend Yoga and Tai-Chai.
Brisk walking, and digging, seem to be the best option, start gradually and build up.
Will look for Yoga and Tai Chai when classes start again in the autumn.
After the misery of the muscle invasive Virus together with this bone trouble, I feel happier now I have work programmes in place to deal with both.
Enjoyed the Tour de France finale and the helicopter pictures of the gardens at the Palace of Versaille, hope others did too.

Not sure where you got the information about calcium and drinking a pint of milk for the over 65's from.
The actual information should say drink a pint of milk, or whatever else you eat containing calcium, eg chesse, bread, so that total daily intake is about 1000mg and this should be every day during adolescence and up to the menopause in women. Bone density naturally reduces from the mid thirties, so you need to do everything you can to maintain calcium in your bones whilst you still can. This is especially true for women because after the menopause, lack of oestrogen affects calcium absorption into the bones.
Once the levels have decreased and osteoporosis is present, calcium on it's own can be a waste of time as no matter how much you eat of it, it doesn't get absorbed.
That's when you go onto biphosphanates, that increase bone density, in conjunction with calcium and the other thing you forgot to mention about gardening and that is vitamin d. That is essential for absorbtion of Calcium and your body gets it from sunlight, and as gardeners are outside a lot they get more sunlight, more vitamin d, thus more calcium absorbtion.

I am having a biphosphanate, an Alendronic acid tablet once a week, together with an Adcal-D tablet twice daily
for extra Calcium, drinking milk must be right. Information on this subject must have been updated.
The point I wanted to make is that gardening throughout life is important, as it is a weight bearing exercise which pulls and tugs on the muscles which increase the bone making cells in the body, therefore strengthening the bones throughout life. Vigorous exercise is hard, I am starting gradually.
Forgot to mention cycling is no good, as the bike supports the body weight.
Keeping allotment land is therefore important from a health point of view.
Some information is from National Osteoporisis Foundation.
Will carry on drinking milk, anything to increase calcium can only be good.